Of course the casting of Bale wouldn't only make the film an easier sell to studios, but would almost certainly help male the film achieve its full potential. But we wonder if Bale's name is enough--even with "Oscar winner" attached to it--to pull in audiences.

We've loved Bale ever since being knocked about by his performance in "American Psycho" more than a decade ago, but the only film's in which he's had the lead that have made serious money are the two Batman movies and a Terminator, storied film franchises with baked-in audiences.

Noah? Sure, it's timeless classic, and we'd love Aronofsky's take on it, but we have a hard time believing he could make such a film that would pull enough eyeballs to justify that kind of budget. But then who thought a psychological ballet thriller would make a $100 million?